The present invention disclosed herein relates to a substrate processing system and method, and more particularly, to a substrate processing system and a substrate processing method which can form various structures of encapsulation layer by adjusting an arrangement height of a mask member with respect to a substrate.
An encapsulation process in a display manufacturing process or a semiconductor manufacturing process refers to a process of forming an encapsulation layer to protect an electrode and an organic layer of a device from oxygen and moisture in the air and to protect the device from external mechanical and physical impacts.
Particularly, since the lifespan of organic materials is rapidly shortened when exposed to oxygen and moisture in the air, organic materials used in an Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) device necessarily require an encapsulation layer for preventing external contact of organic materials.
Generally, the encapsulation layer is formed by a filling encapsulation method in which an organic material is filled between an encapsulation substrate and a TFT substrate, a frit encapsulation method in which a glass material (frit) melted by laser is used for adhesion, and a film encapsulation method in which a device is protected from the outside using a multilayered organic-inorganic complex film.
The encapsulation layer of the film encapsulation method can be formed by alternately laminating two or more different kinds of films (e.g., an organic film and an inorganic film).
As one of existing methods of manufacturing an encapsulation layer, a first mask is disposed on an upper surface of a substrate on which a device is formed in a first chamber, and a first encapsulation layer is formed to cover the device through a deposition process using a first mask. Thereafter, a second mask (e.g., having different sizes or openings) different from the first mask is disposed on the upper surface of the substrate in a second chamber, and a second encapsulation layer is formed to cover the first encapsulation layer through the deposition process using the second mask. Thereafter, a third mask different from the second mask is disposed on the upper surface of the substrate, and a third encapsulation layer is formed to cover the second encapsulation layer through the deposition process using a third mask. Thus, a method of forming the encapsulation layers has been proposed.
However, in order to form the encapsulation layer including the first to third encapsulation layers, since it is necessary to manufacture and use different types of first to third masks, each having different sizes and layer properties, there is a limitation in that it is costly and time-consuming to manufacture and maintain the masks.
Furthermore, in order to dispose the first mask to the third mask in different chambers, since devices (e.g., a mask supporting device or an alignment device) for disposing the masks in the chambers are separately manufactured in accordance with the types and specifications of the mask, the manufacturing process is complicated and inefficient, and the manufacturing cost is increased.
Also, since the deposition is performed while the masks are fixed, in order to change the structure (e.g., the deposition area) of the encapsulation layer, it is inevitable that different masks need to be separately prepared in consideration of different sizes and layer properties for the structures of each encapsulation layer. Accordingly, the manufacturing cost of the mask member is increased, and the manufacturing structure and manufacturing process of the encapsulation layer become complicated.
Accordingly, in recent years, various studies for simplifying the manufacturing structure and the manufacturing process of the encapsulation layer and for improving the process efficiency are being conducted, but further development is still required.